A US scheme that provides free healthcare to first responders and survivors of the 2001 World Trade Center terror attacks has been in turmoil for months, with services cut, restored and cut again as part of Donald Trump’s administration’s “restructuring” of the federal health department.
Following the most recent cuts, Democratic US senators and groups representing survivors say they have no clarity on how the scheme will continue to provide benefits.
“This is bureaucratic cruelty,” said Michael Barasch, an attorney who represents thousands of first responders and survivors of the attacks. Barasch was a downtown Manhattan office worker on September 11.
“You’ve got people with [post-traumatic stress disorder], which was diagnosed from all the body parts they were picking up, all that trauma – these people rely on treatment. Can you imagine their level of anxiety? Their level of anxiety is skyrocketing.”
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‘I had all the symptoms of bowel cancer but it wasn’t on their radar because of my age’
He said other clients undergoing cancer treatment and seeking yearly check-ups had no idea if upcoming visits would be covered. He said clients were asking: “Who’s going to pay for my chemotherapy? Do I go for my annual physical? Is that still scheduled?”
The World Trade Center Health Program is run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under its worker safety arm, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Both agencies, which are organised under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), have come under severe attack by the Trump administration.
Billionaire Elon Musk and the US health secretary Robert F Kennedy jnr have cut roughly a quarter of the HHS workforce, or about 20,000 people from the 82,000-person agency. The most recent cuts, taking place on April 1, hit the CDC and the NIOSH especially hard – although there is still no accounting of exact cuts from the administration.
“The chaos surrounding the WTC Health Program is completely unacceptable for the thousands of 9/11 survivors and first responders who risked their lives in our nation’s darkest hour,” Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democratic US senator, told the Guardian.
“This is completely disrespectful to the 9/11 survivors and responders who protected our nation when we were under attack and are now suffering from life-threatening health ramifications from that day.”
There’s such chaos because there’s zero information. There’s no transparency
— Michael Barasch, attorney
The lack of information has left survivors and first responders with “zero information” about whether their appointments – for cancer treatment, mental illness or basic check-ups – can continue, Barasch said.
“There’s such chaos because there’s zero information. There’s no transparency,” he said.
A total of 2,973 people died in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks: 2,749 died when two aircraft crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York; 184 were killed when an aeroplane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC; and 40 people died on the aircraft that crashed in Pennsylvania.
James Zadroga, who died in 2006, was a New York City police officer and was widely believed to be the first death directly attributable to toxins released by the attacks.
The World Trade Center Health Program, victim’s compensation fund and health registry were meant to provide care and compensation to people like Zadroga, with a law that established a compensation plan, research programme and free healthcare for first responders and victims of the attacks. The scheme was signed into law in 2011 by Barack Obama and mandated to run up to 2090.
In February, the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) cut roughly 10,000 people from HHS staff, including two major research grants and 16 people from the roughly 90-person World Trade Center Health Program staff. More workers took Doge-backed buyouts. Amid bipartisan outcry, 11 workers and the two grants were then restored, the New York Times reported.
On April 1, Kennedy then initiated a second 10,000-person cut to HHS, this time cutting nearly two-thirds of the NISOH workforce. Overall, 2,400 people were expected to be cut from the CDC, with nearly 900 coming from NIOSH alone.
Among the cuts was the entirety of the World Trade Center Health Program, including its administrator, Dr James Howard, who was appointed during the first Trump administration. After a second round of bipartisan outcry, including Republican lobbying to the White House, Howard was reinstated over the weekend. However, the fate of his staff remains unknown.
“How many people were rehired along with Dr Howard? You know as well as I know,” Barasch said.
Gillibrand said: “We know that Dr Howard has been rehired, but ultimately so much is left uncertain. The Trump administration is using our nation’s heroes as political pawns while critical questions surrounding the programme’s funding and staffing cuts remain.”
The Guardian contacted the Republican representative Andrew Garbarino, who led Republicans who lobbied the White House. He did not respond to requests for further information about cuts and rehirings at the programme. - The Guardian
